Pope Francis leaves Iraq after successful first-ever papal visit to the country

Pope Francis left Iraq today at the end of a historic four-day visit which went off without a hitch despite security fears and a second wave of coronavirus cases in the country.

The pope and his entourage boarded a plane at Baghdad Airport this morning where Iraqi president Barham Salih waved him off following the first-ever papal visit to Iraq. 

Francis will fly back to Rome after covering more than 900 miles on his whirlwind tour of Iraq, bringing comfort to its diminished Christian population and reaching out to the Shiite majority in a meeting with top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.

In a series of speeches the 84-year-old pontiff urged Iraqis to embrace diversity and made a rousing call for an end to violence and extremism after years of war.  

In his packed three full days in Iraq, the Pope made more than a half-dozen speeches in nearly as many cities, repeatedly evoking hope and fraternity. 

‘In my time among you, I have heard voices of sorrow and loss, but also voices of hope and consolation,’ Francis said on Sunday, concluding his last public event.

‘Now the time draws near for my return to Rome. Yet Iraq will always remain with me, in my heart.’

In Baghdad on Friday, he called for an end to violence and extremism and urged officials to do more to fight corruption.

Francis called the minority Yazidis ‘innocent victims of senseless and brutal atrocities,’ following the Islamic State group’s rampage against their esoteric community in 2014.

He also met members of Iraq’s other minorities in a moving interfaith ceremony at Ur, where the Prophet Abraham is thought to have been born.

On Saturday, he held an extraordinary meeting with the reclusive but highly respected Sistani, who afterwards said Iraq’s Christians should have the right to live in ‘peace.’

Francis’ full day in Iraq’s war-battered north on Sunday embodied a cause close to his heart – supporting traumatised Christians.

There, he said the ‘tragic’ exodus of Christians ‘does incalculable harm not just to the individuals and communities concerned, but also to the society they leave behind’.